Welcome to the Fishing Report. It was cool this morning at 7:30 am but the sun is out now and it’s not even 8:00. Today will be warm and sunny. In fact, every day for the next five will be warm and sunny. We’ll see the high around 80 on Thursday. Traffic was light this morning. They restaurants were lacking customers. Visitors are going to find solitude and peace if they visit the Smokies right now. The leaf season has not started. This is quiet time.

Little River is low. We have had plenty of rain since September 1st, 8.74 inches at the airport. Normal for that period is 3.50 inches. The problem is, we just have not had any lately. The water is clear and this morning the water temperature was 53 degrees in town. We will see the water warm up this week.

Fishing is fairly good. You need to get down and stay hidden. Bill went fishing on the Middle Prong last week and did very well using a dry fly. He finally took off his dropper, a Green Weenie because the trout were not taking it. He said he started with a Stimulator at first and switched to something else. I think it was a caddis.

I would probably fish the Elkmont area on the larger water. The Middle and West Prong are tougher for me in low water situations. And now we have to deal with the bright sun. Rain is not expected until Monday. I am hoping we get plenty of precipitation and cloudy skies for a few days. That would help the fishing.

The KnoxNews Fishing Report indicates the water in the lakes is cooling to the mid 70’s. His last report was on Sepetember 23rd. The impoundments must be cooler than that now. Then, he reported the smallmouth bass were still deep. Cooler water will bring them closer to the surface within the reach of fly anglers. The largemouth bass are in shallower water. Gary Troutman fished one of the lakes yesterday. I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

Thursday, Mark Brown and I are going to shoot a short video on Little River. He is the Sales Manager at Chota Outdoor Gear. A canoe will be involved as a prop. The video will feature their new “Hippies” hip high waders. They have already been a tremendous success. Tomorrow I will need to re-familiarize myself with the video editing software and our high-def video camera. It has been a while since I have used either. Mark will be the model. I’m looking forward to doing this. The finished video will be loaded on YouTube and accessed by a smart phone using a QR Code in a magazine ad. Anyone can find the video online and many dealers will probably imbed it in their websites. I know we will.

Several of us met yesterday to discuss Troutfest. It will be held the third weekend in May next year. It is nice not being the Chairman, which I was for three years. Bill Guinn took my place and he is doing a great job. The whole 23 member Troutfest Committee will meet in November to do some brainstorming. We met yesterday to prepare for that meeting.

There is plenty of activity here at the store. We are receiving the new 2012 merchandise or at least that which is available. Some gear won’t be shipped to us until Spring. Fishpond and Sage are shipping their new stuff now. This is an exciting time of the year in a fly shop.

Our fly fishing classes will be offered from March to October 2011. To sign up just call the shop at 877-448-3474. You can read more on our website in the Schools Section. The fly fishing class schedule follows:

Saturday October 8 – Beginner Day One
Saturday October 22 – Beginner Day One
Sunday October 23 – Beginner Onstream Day Two